The Last Match

Newhaven Fort, Fort Road, Newhaven, Thursday, August 20

Sussex Country Cricket Club, Eaton Road, Hove, Saturday, August 22

HOVE’S cricket ground played a symbolic role at the start of both world wars.

At the beginning of The West Pier - the first book of his Gorse Trilogy - Patrick Hamilton’s anti-hero watches a marching band stride onto the cricket pitch to shame the cricketers into signing up to fight in the First World War trenches. The scene was supposedly based on Hamilton’s own memories of the outbreak of war.

And on September 1, 1939, as British children were being evacuated to the countryside, and German forces were crossing the Polish border, the ground hosted an unforgettable match between Yorkshire and Sussex.

It was to be the final cricket match played by Yorkshire’s bowling hero Hedley Verity – who helped snatch victory from the home side by taking seven wickets for nine runs on the day. The cricketer had previously achieved the enviable score of ten wickets for ten runs in 1932 against Nottinghamshire.

“Real cricket history enthusiasts are aware of this match,” says documentary maker Colin Philpott, who made his first foray into the world of theatre with this stage adaptation.

“It’s an interesting story whether you are into cricket or not. I suppose it’s the story of the moment when peace becomes war – people carrying on ordinary things, while the extraordinary is starting to happen around them.

“To play a game of cricket at that time seems an odd, almost slightly offensive thing to do, but it’s also a noble thing. There’s a fascination and poignancy of that day – they kept watching and playing cricket while the world was falling apart.”

The story is told from Verity’s sickbed to a fictional visitor in this two-hander. Four years on from the match Verity is suffering serious injuries following his role in the invasion of Sicily.

Next weekend’s Hove staging is set to coincide with this season’s match between Sussex and Yorkshire – the two teams at the heart of the story - while Yorkshire’s Headingley Ground in Leeds will host a performance on the exact anniversary of the match.

When it came to writing the script Philpott tried to stay as accurate to the original match as possible.

“From the records we know how the batsmen were out, although we don’t always know where the catch was taken,” he says.

"We spent a lot of time thumbing through newspapers from that day and the next to get the wider context of what was going on. A biography of Verity has an entire chapter devoted to the match.

“It had rained on the previous day, so the game looked like it was petering out to a dull draw.

“As a result of Verity’s astonishing bowling Yorkshire won the county championship.”

Philpott had initially envisaged turning the story into a documentary, but was stymied by the passage of time - as none of the original players are still alive - and lack of physical material.

“The match wasn’t filmed, and the only photographs seem to have been taken a different day,” he says.

Through the cricketer’s late friend Sydney Fielden, Philpott was able to get access to Verity’s letters and papers creating a fuller picture of the bowling hero.

“The reason the game carried on that day was because it was a benefit match,” says Philpott.

“It was important for cricketers to get that money at the end of their career – it was a significant income.”

The cricketer who benefitted was Sussex’s Jim Parks, whose son also went on to play for Sussex and England.

"The match has a very special place in the memory of my family because both my father and uncle played in it,” says Jim Parks Junior, who spoke to Philpott as part of his research.

“The players of both sides wanted to finish it for him. The story is certainly something special. My Dad would have been delighted."

The play, which is directed by Kit Monkman, stars Al Barclay, previously of Brit-flick Bright Young Things, as Verity, and Dan Abelson as his hospital companion.

Philpott still hopes to meet someone who might have seen the game unfold in 1939 when he returns to Hove.

“Jim Parks Junior wasn’t at the match – he was a boy of ten at the time,” he says.

“But anyone aged 85 plus now could have been old enough to go to the match as a small boy.

“It would be fantastic if they could step forward, so I could hear their memories.”

Thursday: 4pm and 7pm, tickets £7/£4.

Sat: 1.15pm and 6.15pm, tickets £6. Visit www.thelastmatch.com